EU’s ‘de-risking’ plan for China meets resistance from some members
- Several western European states take issue with a presentation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal for a new China strategy
- Some are troubled by national security justifications for the new stance; ‘we aren’t interested in a gung ho approach to China,’ one official says
As European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen prepares to unveil a road map for “de-risking” economic ties with China, big member states have warned against “mimicking” the “gung ho” approach of United States.
At a breakfast meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, diplomats from France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were among those expressing concern about “national security” references von de Leyen’s chief of cabinet, Bjorn Seibert, made in a presentation, according to five diplomats and others party to the discussion.
While there is broad support for reducing Europe’s dependencies on China and finding alternative suppliers for critical goods, there are worries that von der Leyen’s European Commission is moving too quickly and too expansively.
The “cool and cautious” feedback from some the bloc’s most powerful members, said a senior official, was: “We are Europe, not the United States.”
Some capitals worry that Brussels is veering onto their turf by conflating trade policy with “national security”.